


Slow Dance

by akire_yta



Series: promptfics - thunderbirds are go [26]
Category: thunderbirds are go
Genre: Brotp, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-10
Updated: 2016-09-10
Packaged: 2018-08-14 05:27:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 767
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8000224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/akire_yta/pseuds/akire_yta
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>nonsexual intimacy - slow dance</p>
            </blockquote>





	Slow Dance

The library was full of the kind of hushed quiet that had weight, a kind of pressure in the very air.  

John had been chased out of his apartment by the noise of his neighbors party, and the silence here was like a balm.  On a random Friday night in the middle of semester, the building was virtually empty, and John could just hear the noise of people and distance music from the street below the windows that ran along one wall of the reading room he had claimed entirely for himself.

John sank into his readings, finding satisfaction in the interplay of ideas and concepts.  He sank into it deep enough that the buzz of his comm startled him. He jerked upright, knocking his bag off the table. John scrambled to gather his things, his fingers finally closing around his still-vibrating comm.  

“Where are you?”

John sat back, glancing around, but there were no other patrons to annoy with his call.  “Good evening to you too, Penelope.  Yes, I am well, thank you for asking.”

Penny ignored his arch tone.  “I am at your apartment, which is surrounded by an excellent party, but you are not home.”

John rubbed the bridge of his nose.  He wasn’t really in the mood to overnight in the armchairs by the stacks, but he’d done it before.  “I am not at home because there is a party all around my apartment.  Get your causation in the correct order.”

Penny made a frustrated noise.  In the background of the call, John could hear music thumping.  “Hence me asking where…oh, never mind, I know.”  The call cut out with abrupt suddenness.

John looked at his comm.  “And a good evening to you too, Pen.”  Putting it to one side, he set about reorganizing his spilled notes.

He was just settling back down to his reading when he heard the tell-tale _click-click-click_  of high heels on tiles.  A moment later, Penny appeared at the entry to the reading room, her eyes scanning the room until they lit on her target.

John forced himself to keep his posture open as Penny bore down on him with the speed and focus of a missile.  “There you are.  No wallflowering tonight, John.”

She tugged on his arm.  John didn’t let himself move.  “Yes wallflowering, Pen. I’m tired, it was a long week.  I just wanted to relax at my apartment, but catching up on my reading is a good second choice, given the circumstances.”

Penny hands dropped to her hips as she studied him.  “What am I going to do with you?”

John waved her away, feeling uncharitably irritated with her attention.  “Let me read in peace?” he suggested.

She dropped into the chair on the other side of the desk.  “You want to read.  I want to dance.  Problem.”

John didn’t look away from his reading.  He kept losing his place, but he knew if Penny started using her big puppy eyes, he was going to lose his evening. “You go dance.  I stay and read.  No problem.”

Penny flounced at the table, dropping her head onto her folded arms.  “But everyone else wants stuff.  And I just want to dance.  That means I have to dance with you!”

John blinked, trying to follow the logic.  “Are you drunk, woman?”

Penny sat up.  “A lady is never drunk.  I am just extremely jovial.”

John put down his tablet to rub his tired eyes.  “Of course you are.  Okay, what if I dance with you, right now?  Would that satisfy you?”

Penny pursed her lips.  “We don’t have music.”

John stood, and extended a hand to her. “Listen.”

The music from the parties on the street were faint, but the beat was clear.  Penny was still light on her feet, steady despite the scent of wine on her breath.  Her fingers were small and delicate in his, and his other hand spanned the width of the small of her back.  

The song was in ¾ time, and they fell into a waltz without even trying.  Penny’s cheeks were flushed as she beamed up at him.  “You dance divinely, sir.”

John had to smile back.  “Satisfied your need, milady?”

Penny span out of their waltz with one final twirl.  “I’ll always need you, John.”  

She dropped daintily back into her chair.  John settled in more slowly, watching her, but she made no move to leave.  Kicking off her heels, she stole one of the books from his pile.  John restarted his tablet.  Today they sat, on a Friday night, reading quietly and listening to the party outside.


End file.
